State of Missouri Office of Child Advocate for Children’s Protection and Services Annual Report 2006 – 2007

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by  Missouri Office of Administration, Office of Child Advocate for Children’s Protection and Services

State of Missouri
Office
of
Child Advocate for
Children’s Protection
and Services
2006-2007
Annual Report
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State of Missouri
Office of
Child Advocate for Children’s
Protection and Services
Annual Report 2006-2007

Investigate Complaints
Advocate for Abused and Neglected Children
Recommend Changes
Improve the Child Welfare System

Mailing Address

P.O. Box 809
Jefferson City, MO 65102

Telephone: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

E-mail: [email protected]

TTY: Missouri Relay Center [phone]

Website: http://www.oca.mo.gov/
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State of Missouri
Office of Child Advocate
for Children’s Protection and Services
Matt Blunt Post Office Box 809 Steve Morrow
Governor Jefferson City 65102 Child Advocate
[phone]
Toll-free: [phone]

January 2008

The Honorable Matt Blunt, Governor of the State of Missouri
The Honorable Laura Denvir Stith, Chief Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court

As stipulated by RSMo 37.715.6, I am pleased to present the 2006-2007 Annual Report of the
Office of Child Advocate for Children’s Protection and Services. The report covers a twelve
month span from September 2006 through August 2007.

It is both noteworthy and commendable that Missouri has seen fit to provide its citizens with an
independent avenue for addressing concerns and complaints related to child abuse. I believe the
existence of this office provides another example of Missouri’s commitment to children and
families.

Interacting with various persons, organizations, and agencies, the Office of Child Advocate fills a
unique role to help ensure the safety of innocent children. We will remain steadfast in our efforts
to make a positive contribution whenever possible.

Thank you for this opportunity to present the 2006-2007 Annual Report of the Office of Child
Advocate for Children’s Protection and Services.

Respectfully submitted by:

Steve Morrow
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Table of Contents
History 5
Operation of the Office 5
Staff 5
Budget 5
Role of the Office 5
What Does the Office of Child Advocate Do? 5
Receiving, Investigating and Concluding Complaints 6
Location of Complaints 8
Promoting the Office 9
Complaint Types and Sources 9
Types of New Complaints 9
Sources of New Complaints 10
Policy/Procedure Considerations and Practice Issues 11
Case Specific Recommendations 12
Effectiveness Measurements 13
Recommendations for Improving the System 13
Status of Recommendations Included in 2005-2006 Annual Report 15
Promising Practices & Developments 16
Internship Program 17
Acknowledgements 18
Appendix A—Missouri Revised Statutes, Chapter 37 19
Appendix B—Colleagues for Children 23
Appendix C—Staff Training 24
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History
The Office of Child Welfare Ombudsman was established in 2002. The first
Ombudsman for the office was appointed in 2003. In 2004, during the 92nd General
Assembly, House Bill 1453 was passed and the Child Welfare Reform Bill was signed
into law. The statute changed the name of the office to the Office of Child Advocate
for Children’s Protection and Services. (See Appendix A for statute language.)
Steve Morrow was named Missouri Child Advocate in 2006. Since its inception, the
Office of Child Advocate for Children’s Protection and Services has responded to
contacts involving a total of 1,612 children.

Operation of the Office

Staff OCA staff:
The Office of Child Advocate for Steve Morrow, Missouri Child Advocate
Children’s Protection and Services is Courtney Davis, Field Operations Investigator
directed by the Missouri Child Advocate John Steinmeyer, Central Office Investigator
who is appointed by the Governor and
Carolyn Swanigan, Office Manager
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, with
the advice and consent of the Senate. Other staff positions include a Field
Operations Investigator, a Central Office Investigator and an Administrative Assistant/
Office Manager. (Staff training is noted in Appendix C.)

Budget
The Office of Child Advocate for Children’s Protection and Services is funded through
state general revenue funds and federal funds distributed through the Department of
Social Services. The 2006-07 core budget appropriation was $300,923.

Role of the Office

The Office of Child Advocate for Children’s Protection and Services operates apart
from the Department of Social Services/Children’s Division, the Department of Mental
Health, and the Juvenile Court. Functioning under the administrative purview of the
Office of Administration, the Office of Child Advocate for Children’s Protection and
Services is able to offer an independent voice to help ensure the safety of children.

What Does the Office of Child Advocate Do?
♦ Receives and hears complaints from family members and other citizens regarding
disputed decisions, actions, or inactions relevant to reported instances of child
abuse or neglect.
♦ Conducts independent investigations, noting perceived policy/procedure errors
and practice issues when appropriate.
♦ Advocates for the child (or children) by directing pertinent questions to appropriate
officials and addressing related concerns as necessary.
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♦ Offers recommendations when appropriate, including case specific
recommendations and systemic recommendations for improving the system.
♦ Provides education (regarding the child welfare system) for complainants and
other citizens.
♦ Submits Annual Report to the Governor, the Chief Justice of the Missouri
Supreme Court, and others.
♦ Per RSMo 210.145.15, receives referrals of unsubstantiated reports from the
children’s division upon request of the reporter.

Receiving, Investigating and Concluding Complaints

Receiving Complaints
From September 1, 2006 through August 31, 2007, the Office of Child Advocate for
Children’s Protection and Services received 339 complaints/contacts including
registered concerns from 145 new complainants involving 228 children. The 2005-
2006 Annual Report cited 258 complaints/contacts from 206 new complainants
involving 324 children.
Children by Race
Children by Age
Other
16-17
18 years Hispanic 0.4% Multi-racial
years and up 0.4% 0.4%
12-15 4%
1%
years African
0-3 years
16% American
25%
5.8%
8-11 years
17%
4-7 years
Caucasian
37%
91.7%

Children by Gender
“We worry about what a child will become
tomorrow, yet we forget that he or she is
someone today.”
Female
53% Stacia Tauscher
Male
47%
“We can easily forgive a child for being
afraid of the dark. The tragedy of life is
when adults are afraid of the light.”
Plato
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Caseload is determined by the composite
2006—2007
number of complaints/contacts received by the
Contacts Received
Office of Child Advocate for Children’s Protection
153 Information and Referrals
and Services and is categorized according to (1)
145 New Cases Information and Referrals, (2) New Cases, (3)
Reopened cases, (4) Unsubstantiated Reviews,
19 Reopened Cases and (5) Unable to Contact (due to phone
numbers no longer in service, etc.)
21 Unsubstantiated Reviews
Investigating Complaints
1 Unable to Contact
Upon the receipt of a complaint, the Office of
339 Total Number of Contacts Child Advocate for Children’s Protection and
Services proceeds to determine the appropriate
level of investigation. Possible levels of
investigation include:

1) No investigation
needed
2) Gather information
and interact as
necessary with
involved parties
3) Request and review
the Children’s
Division case file
4) Conduct on-site
investigation

Investigations involving
reviews of unsubstantiated
reports are generally handled
by the Child Advocate. New
cases and reopened cases are
typically assigned to an
investigator according to the geographic location of the case.

Concluding Complaints
It is the goal of the Office of Child Advocate for Children’s Protection and Services to
conduct investigations within a 30 day time period. Extenuating circumstances may
occasionally extend the investigation in certain instances. Possible conclusions may
involve:

1) No perceived policy/procedure error(s) noted
2) Perceived policy/procedure error(s) noted
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3) Perceived practice issue(s) identified
4) Case recommendation(s) offered for improving services to the child, children or
families.

In completing the complaint process, the Office of Child Advocate for Children’s
Protection and Services may incorporate one or more of the following procedures:
1) Oral communication
2) Written communication
3) Written narrative account
4) Written summary statement

Location of Complaints
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Promoting the Office
Per section 37.710.1 RSMo, the Office of Child Advocate for Children’s Protection
and Services is authorized “to take whatever steps are appropriate to see that
persons are made aware of the services of the child advocate’s office, its purpose,
and how it can be contacted.” Between September 1, 2006 and August 31, 2007,
awareness of the office was increased as a result of:

1) Distribution of Annual Report
2) Distribution of office brochure
3) Office website (updated January 2007)
4) State homepage link to website (January 2007)
5) Speaking engagements
♦ Rotary International
♦ St. Louis County Juvenile Justice Association
♦ The Missouri Court Appointed Special Advocate Association
♦ Midwest Foster Care and Adoption Association
♦ Christos House
♦ Domestic Violence Response Team (DVRT)
6) Scheduled meetings with Children’s Division officials
♦ Circuit Managers
♦ Regional Directors
7) Written notices and articles
♦ Missouri Juvenile Justice Association newsletter, regarding website
notice.
♦ Article appearing in Colleagues For Children, a publication available
to over 102,000 health professionals, educators, law enforcement
personnel, legal professionals and social workers in the State of
Missouri, most of whom are mandated reporters of child abuse and
neglect. (See Appendix B for complete article.)
8) Exhibits at Professional Conferences
♦ Child Advocacy Day at the State Capitol
♦ Child Abuse and Neglect prevention conference coordinated by the
Children’s Trust Fund
♦ Sudden Infant Death Seminar
♦ Missouri Juvenile Justice Association Spring Seminar

Complaint Types and Sources

Types of New Complaints
Complaints to the Office of Child Advocate for Children’s Protection and Services
generally fall into one of three main categories: 1) child safety 2) family separation
and reunification, and 3) dependent child health, well-being, and permanency. These
categories involve the following issues:

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Child Safety _____________________________________________________________ 53 calls
♦ Failure to protect child from parental abuse
♦ Failure to address safety concerns involving child in foster care or other substitute care
♦ Failure to address safety concerns involving child being returned to parental care
♦ Failure to provide appropriate services to child at risk of harming self or others

Family Separation and Reunification__________________________________________ 51 calls
♦ Unnecessary removal of child from parental care
♦ Failure to provide appropriate contact between child and family
♦ Failure to reunite families despite parental compliance with court-ordered services
♦ Failure to place child with relatives
♦ Inappropriate termination of parental rights

Dependent Child Health, Well-Being, Permanency________________________________ 17 calls
♦ Inappropriate change of child's foster or other substitute placement
♦ Inadequate development or implementation of plan to transition child to new placement
♦ Failure to provide child with appropriate services
♦ Unreasonable delay or opposition to adoption

Other____________________________________________________________________ 24 calls
Sources of New Complaints “A man never stands as tall as when he
Most of the complaints received by the Office kneels to help a child”
of Child Advocate for Children’s Protection
Anonymous
and Services are from biological parents of
children in state care or custody. The
majority of parents call to express dissatisfaction over policy, procedure, or certain
practices with which they disagree. Specific concerns may revolve around placement,
visitation, safety, communication and other related matters. Grandparents are the
second highest source of complaints. These calls usually involve grandparents
wanting placement of grandchildren that have been removed from their parent’s home
or grandparents who are concerned about the safety of their grandchildren living with
a parent or other caretaker.
Caller Relationship No. Caller Relationship No.
Anonymous 2 Foster Parent 11 Foster parents also call the Office of
Child Advocate for Children’s
Biological Parent 72 Grandparent 28
Protection and Services with
concerns. In certain cases, the
CASA/GAL 1 Other Relative 10
Office of Child Advocate for
Child 1 Other Relationship 10 Children’s Protection and Services
has helped to facilitate more direct
Community Professional 7 Step-Parent 3 communication among the parties
or Service Provider
involved and a better understanding
Total: 145
of the issues.
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